Friday, June 9, 2023
The Friday Face-Off: Current Read #8
Wednesday, June 7, 2023
Can't-Wait Wednesday: The Carnivale of Curiosities by Amiee Gibbs, The Militia House by John Milas, & The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei
Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! This meme is based off of Jill @ Breaking the Spine's Waiting on Wednesday meme.
The Carnivale of Curiosities by Amiee Gibbs
Publication: July 11th, 2023
Grand Central Publishing
Paperback. 448 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org
From Goodreads:
"In Victorian London, where traveling sideshows are the very pinnacle of entertainment, there is no more coveted ticket than Ashe and Pretorius' Carnivale of Curiosities. Each performance is a limited engagement, and London's elite boldly dare the dangerous streets of Southwark to witness the Carnivale's astounding assemblage of marvels. For a select few, however, the real show begins behind the curtain. Rumors abound that the show’s proprietor, Aurelius Ashe, is more than an average magician. It's said that for the right price, he can make any wish come true. No one knows the truth of this claim better than Lucien the Lucifer, the Carnivale's star attraction. Born with the ability to create fire, he's dazzled spectators since he was a boy.
When Odilon Rose, one of the most notorious men in London, comes calling with a proposition regarding his young and beautiful charge, Charlotte, Ashe is tempted to refuse. After revealing, however, that Rose holds a secret that threatens the security of the troupe's most vulnerable members, Ashe has no choice but to sign an insidious contract.
The stakes grow higher as Lucien finds himself drawn to Charlotte and her to him, an attraction that spurs a perilous course of events. Grave secrets, recovered horrors, and what it means to be family come to a head in this vividly imagined spectacle—with the lives of all those involved suspended in the balance."
The Militia House by John Milas
Publication: July 11th, 2023
Henry Holt and Co.
Hardcover. 272 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org
From Goodreads:
"Stephen King meets Tim O’Brien in John Milas’s The Militia House, a spine-tingling and boldly original gothic horror novel.
It’s 2010, and the recently promoted Corporal Loyette and his unit are finishing up their deployment at a new base in Kajaki, Afghanistan. Their duties here are straightforward―loading and unloading cargo into and out of helicopters―and their days are a mix of boredom and dread. The Brits they’re replacing delight in telling them the history of the old barracks just off base, a Soviet-era militia house they claim is haunted, and Loyette and his men don’t need much convincing to make a clandestine trip outside the wire to explore it.
It’s a short, middle-of-the-day adventure, but the men experience a mounting agitation after their visit to the militia house. In the days that follow they try to forget about the strange, unsettling sights and sounds from the house, but things are increasingly . . . not right. Loyette becomes determined to ignore his and his marines’ growing unease, convinced that it’s just the strain of war playing tricks on them. But something about the militia house will not let them go.
Meticulously plotted and viscerally immediate in its telling, The Militia House is a gripping and brilliant exploration of the unceasing horrors of war that’s no more easily shaken than the militia house itself."
The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei
Publication: July 18th, 2023
Flatiron Books
Hardcover. 416 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org
From Goodreads:
"TYume Kitasei's The Deep Sky is an enthralling sci fi thriller debut about a mission into deep space that begins with a lethal explosion that leaves the survivors questioning the loyalty of the crew.
They left Earth to save humanity. They’ll have to save themselves first.
It is the eve of Earth’s environmental collapse. A single ship carries humanity’s last hope: eighty elite graduates of a competitive program, who will give birth to a generation of children in deep space. But halfway to a distant but livable planet, a lethal bomb kills three of the crew and knocks The Phoenix off course.
Asuka, the only surviving witness, is an immediate suspect. Asuka already felt like an impostor before the explosion. She was the last picked for the mission, she struggled during training back on Earth, and she was chosen to represent Japan, a country she only partly knows as a half-Japanese girl raised in America. But estranged from her mother back home, The Phoenix is all she has left.
With the crew turning on each other, Asuka is determined to find the culprit before they all lose faith in the mission—or worse, the bomber strikes again."
Tuesday, June 6, 2023
Review: The Will of the Many by James Islington
Publication Date: May 23rd, 2023
The Catenan Republic – the Hierarchy – may rule the world now, but they do not know everything.
I tell them my name is Vis Telimus.
I tell them I was orphaned after a tragic accident three years ago, and that good fortune alone has led to my acceptance into their most prestigious school. I tell them that once I graduate, I will gladly join the rest of civilised society in allowing my strength, my drive and my focus – what they call Will – to be leeched away and added to the power of those above me, as millions already do. As all must eventually do. I tell them that I belong, and they believe me.
But the truth is that I have been sent to the Academy to find answers. To solve a murder. To search for an ancient weapon. To uncover secrets that may tear the Republic apart.
And that I will never, ever cede my Will to the empire that executed my family.
To survive, though, I will still have to rise through the Academy’s ranks. I will have to smile, and make friends, and pretend to be one of them and win. Because if I cannot, then those who want to control me, who know my real name, will no longer have any use for me.
And if the Hierarchy finds out who I truly am, they will kill me."
Buy the book: Amazon | Bookshop.org
Friday, June 2, 2023
Month in Review: May 2023
And somehow, it's June! How was everyone's month of May? It's been a weird year. I feel very lost this year for a multitude of reasons (especially since we've had exceptionally grey skies about daily since April?), so I'm really just trying to focus on being in the moment whenever I can and also trying to get lost in as many books as possible. I'm moving through books much more slowly than usual and have a harder time choosing books, but overall I do feel like I'm getting back into the groove a bit.
Reading highlights from May include The Will of the Many, The Sword Defiant, and Maeve Fly! The Will of the Many is incredible and I can't stop thinking about it. The wait for the sequel is going to feel interminable and I'm so sad thinking about it, haha. I loved James Islington's previous trilogy, The Licanius Trilogy, and consider it one of my favorites, and now this new series is going to absolutely be a new favorite as well. I knew he was going to pull out something insane for the ending, and he did.
Outside of books, my saving grace lately has been aerial! I just can't get enough of this new hobby (and I'm at that point where I'm starting to question if I could turn it into something more than just a hobby...) and I've loved how much it has helped me with my confidence and even just getting out of the house and interacting with more people, haha. I've been learning mainly aerial hammock so far, but I finally managed to take my first split silks class a week or two ago and had so much fun, so I'd like to pursue that more as well.
a flying snapshot |
How was your month of May!? What books did you read? Let me know in the comments and feel free to link your own wrap-ups (or any posts, really!), and I hope you all have a wonderful June!
Source: NetGalley | Format: eARC
Source: Publisher | Format: Physical ARC
Source: Publisher | Format: Physical ARC
Source: NetGalley | Format: Audiobook
Source: Publisher | Format: Physical ARC
Source: Library | Format: Audiobook
Source: Purchased | Format: Hardcover
Source: Library | Format: Audiobook
Source: Gift | Format: Paperback
Can't-Wait Wednesday:
5/10: Gods of the Wyrdwood by R.J. Barker & The Grimoire of Grave Fates edited by Hanna Alkaf, Margaret Owen
5/17: Maeve Fly by C.J. Leede & Wolfpack by Amelia Brunskill
5/24: Maddalena and the Dark by Julia Fine & The Faint of Heart by Kerilynn Wilson
5/31: Killingly by Katharine Beutner & The Only One Left by Riley Sager
Wednesday, May 31, 2023
Can't-Wait Wednesday: Killingly by Katharine Beutner & The Only One Left by Riley Sager
Can't-Wait is a weekly meme hosted by Wishful Endings that spotlights exciting upcoming releases that we can't wait to be released! This meme is based off of Jill @ Breaking the Spine's Waiting on Wednesday meme.
Killingly by Katharine Beutner
Publication: June 6th, 2023
Soho
Hardcover. 360 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org
From Goodreads:
"Based on the unsolved real-life disappearance of a Mount Holyoke student in 1897, Killingly weaves a haunting spell of intrigue, longing, and terror, perfect for fans of Donna Tartt and Sarah Waters.
Bertha Mellish, “the most peculiar, quiet, reserved girl” at Mount Holyoke College, is missing. One cold November morning the junior is spotted walking through the Massachusetts woods; then, she vanishes. As a search team dredges the pond where she might have drowned, Bertha’s panicked father and sister arrive at the campus desperate to find some clue as to her fate or state of mind. Bertha’s best friend, Agnes, a scholarly loner studying medicine, might know the truth, but she is being unhelpfully tight-lipped, inciting the suspicions of Bertha’s family, her classmates, and the private investigator hired by the Mellish family doctor. As secrets from Agnes and Bertha’s lives come to light, so do the competing agendas driving each person who is searching for Bertha.
Where did Bertha go? Who would want to hurt her? And could she still be alive?
Edmund White Award–winning author Katharine Beutner crafts a real-life unsolved mystery into an immersive, unforgettable work of literary crime fiction--a beautifully drawn historical portrait of queerness, family trauma, and the risks faced by women who dared to pursue unconventional paths at the end of the 19th century."
Everything the Darkness Eats by Eric LaRocca
Publication: June 20th, 2023
Dutton
Hardcover. 368 pages.
Pre-order: Amazon | Bookshop.org
From Goodreads:
"At seventeen, Lenora Hope
Hung her sister with a rope
Now reduced to a schoolyard chant, the Hope family murders shocked the Maine coast one bloody night in 1929. While most people assume seventeen-year-old Lenora was responsible, the police were never able to prove it. Other than her denial after the killings, she has never spoken publicly about that night, nor has she set foot outside Hope’s End, the cliffside mansion where the massacre occurred.
Stabbed her father with a knife
Took her mother’s happy life
It’s now 1983, and home-health aide Kit McDeere arrives at a decaying Hope’s End to care for Lenora after her previous nurse fled in the middle of the night. In her seventies and confined to a wheelchair, Lenora was rendered mute by a series of strokes and can only communicate with Kit by tapping out sentences on an old typewriter. One night, Lenora uses it to make a tantalizing offer—I want to tell you everything.
“It wasn’t me,” Lenora said
But she’s the only one not dead
As Kit helps Lenora write about the events leading to the Hope family massacre, it becomes clear there’s more to the tale than people know. But when new details about her predecessor’s departure come to light, Kit starts to suspect Lenora might not be telling the complete truth—and that the seemingly harmless woman in her care could be far more dangerous than she first thought."
Tuesday, May 30, 2023
Review: Maeve Fly by C.J. Leede
By the neon night glow of the Sunset Strip, Maeve haunts the dive bars with a drink in one hand and a book in the other, imitating her misanthropic literary heroes.
But when Gideon Green - her best friend’s brother - moves to town, he awakens something dangerous within her, and the world she knows suddenly shifts beneath her feet.
Untethered, Maeve ditches her discontented act and tries on a new persona. A bolder, bloodier one, inspired by the pages of American Psycho. Step aside Patrick Bateman, it’s Maeve’s turn with the knife."
Buy the book: Amazon | Bookshop.org
Saturday, May 27, 2023
Anticipated June 2023 Releases!
Well, after having to skip last month's anticipated releases post due to simply not having enough time (sorry!), I'm happy to be back sharing some exciting new books coming out next month! This year has just been packed full of amazing books and I'm really looking forward to a lot of these. So far, I've only had a chance to read Maeve Fly and The First Bright Thing, and they were both amazing, so I have high hopes for the rest. I'm hoping to get through my ARCs of Gods of the Wyrdwood, Maddalena and the Dark, The Antiquity Affair, and Night Will Find You before their respective publication dates in June, but we'll see if that works out for me, haha. Let's take a look at (some of) June's releases!